The Obama administration on Friday officially designated the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based, al-Qaida-linked organization, as a terrorist group.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had until this Sunday to meet a congressional deadline concerning Haqqani’s designation. The Associated Press explains that the formal move will force more broad U.S. sanctions against the organization, though some are already in place.
The designation is complicated by the network’s ties to Pakistan intelligence authorities. In the past, the U.S. has accused Inter-Services Intelligence of supporting Haqqani attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. More recently, the Haqqani network has been linked to a hotel attack outside of Kabul that left at least 20 dead.
The news follows on the heels of the death of Badruddin Haqqani, the third-ranking leader of the group, who was killed last week in a U.S. drone strike, the Washington Post reports.
